Friday, September 8, 2023
7:30pm (doors 7pm)
The string and vocal trio of Boardman, Muise and Gawler will perform a benefit concert in the Meetinghouse of the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village. This threesome of well-known Maine musicians, playing fiddles, cello and guitar, bring improvisation and passion to their treatments of traditional and newly-composed tunes and songs they have collected and written over several decades of individual and collective music-making. The concert takes place in the Shakers’ 1794 Meetinghouse, one of Maine’s most beautiful and acoustically superb venues for vocal and instrumental performances.
The trio of Greg Boardman, Elsie Gawler and Steve Muise plan to perform music drawing from a Scotch, Irish and French repertoire and culture. These three musicians bring together a tradition of rich traditional and ethnic music.
This concert is a benefit for the historic preservation work being done at Shaker Village: The Herb House Cultural Center & the Shaker Barn.
The Herb House project aims to create a communal space for people to share traditional arts within the only active Shaker community in the world. The Barn celebrates an unbroken continuum of agricultural traditions on the Shakers’ farm and the importance of agrotourism in Maine.
Greg Boardman, founder of the Maine Fiddle Camp, performs in the tradition of the Downeast fiddler and is one of northern New England’s most influential musicians. In the early 1970s, Boardman traded in his electric guitar for a fiddle and has never looked back. Old time and traditional fiddlers like Cherry Frechette, Otto Soper, Fred Pike, Leo Murphy, Simon St. Pierre, Ben Guillemette and Lucien Matthieu have had a great influence on his life. His album Chantons is focused on traditional Franco-American songs. Other albums by Boardman include Century Reel and Divine Waltz. His home base is in Lewiston, ME.
Gawler is a multi-instrumentalist and song-writer rooted in Maine’s traditional folk music and culture. Growing up in musical Gawler Family Band, she has been refining her musical skills since the age of 6 — ultimately branching out to create her own original album, “Sweet As Honey.” She continues to perform with The Gawler Family Band but also the duo Ethan and Elsie, a trio of The Gawler Sisters, and as a long-time member of the group Childsplay. She is recognized for her unique and effective approach to traditional music on cello. Her solo album “Sweet as Honey” features nine original songs inspired by her sacred connection to the earth and community.
Muise hails from a family of first and second generation Nova Scotians and a long line of Acadian musicians. A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Muise is a well known music teacher and founder of the Franklin County Fiddlers, a group of students from Mt. Blue High School that has performed in Maine and beyond. He was honored with “Maine Music Educator of the Year” award in 2007. Steve enjoys playing a wide range of styles including Downeast (maritime), Quebecois, Celtic, and jazz.
General Admission
Suggested ticket price: $20
Please consider making an additional donation in your shopping cart at checkout. Thank you!
Benefit Concert: Boardman, Muise, and Gawler
